The Vampire Diaries V: The Morrigan
by Lady Kypria
Summary: Everyone has baggage, whether it's from this lifetime, or the one before it. Bonnie and her friends have finally managed to get on with their lives when an old enemy tracks down its prey and takes vengeance on them all.
1. The End of The Beggining

The Vampire Diaries V:

The Morrigan

by

Damon's luv Bunny

Disclaimer: the Vampire Diaries and all characters connected with it are the property of L. J. Smith. Any characters that you don't recognize are the property of me, the Celtic Vampire Bunny (Bunny, Bonnie, same dif. What? I'm not the 1st person to live vicariously through her, you all have the hotts for Damon or you wouldn't be reading this! Get that straightjacket away from me!!), unless otherwise noted.

Rating: Hmm, well I'd say PG-13. Nothing in that rating so far, but there will eventually be some swearing and some intimate scenes, though how intimate I don't know yet. And of course there will be violence, and possibly a character death. Depends on my mood.

Summery: Everyone has baggage, whether it's from this lifetime, or the one before it. Bonnie and her friends have finally managed to get on with their lives when an old enemy tracks down its prey and takes vengeance on them all. Is it just me or did that summery suck?

Feedback: Oh god yes. I love feedback. I need feedback. Feedback is right up there with chocolate.

 A/N: The only difference in this version is this section with the disclaimer and junk. This was what I was originally gonna post but I wanted to see if you guys liked it first or I wouldn't have bothered to continue. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I know, but then I am a little nuts so it's no big surprise. Oh and I did change 1 line of Damon's. If you wanna read through this just for that, go ahead. But I don't think you'll miss much if you don't. 

Prologue

The End of the Beginning

Bonnie watched the others as they danced around celebrating Elena's rebirth. She was happy. She really was. But the events of the night and everything leading up to it had finally caught up with her and she just wanted to go home, take a nice warm bath, and sleep for a thousand years. As she leaned back, hands bracing herself against the forest floor, she noticed a dark shape moving off through the woods. _Damon_, she reminded herself. Casually, she got up and walked over to where she last saw him. Looking around for any sign of him, she carefully made her way deeper into the woods. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her.

"Any particular reason why you are following me Bonnie?"

Bonnie turned toward him, mind fumbling for an answer. Why had she followed him out of the clearing? "I just, uh, wanted to make sure you were o... k." God that sounded bad, even to her.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, dark eyes looking directly into her own, face completely expressionless. Then, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, " I've been better." He walked passed her into the woods.

"So what that's it?" he paused. "You were just going to leave without saying goodbye to me-" SHIT "- t-to any of us?" 

He turned back to her then, eyes searching her own. He took a breath, "You could come with me."

_Well, I definitely did not see that one coming._ She looked at him a bit skeptically, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

What was she supposed to say to this? He was asking her to leave Fells Church, her home. Everyone and everything she loved was here. Where did he get off asking her something like this?

"Well cara?"

"I can't. It's not that I don't want to. I mean it would be interesting to say the least but-"

"Save it Bonnie," he cut her off abruptly. "I don't need you to 'let me down easy'. I can take it." His face remained more or less expressionless, but there was tension in his jaw, like he was holding something back. 

"Eretto," Bonnie muttered angrily under her breath. 

"What did you just call me?" 

"Nothing," Bonnie replied, putting on her most innocent expression.

"You did not just call me a prick." Damon said slowly, voice low and menacing

Bonnie knew somewhere in the back of her mind that the look he was giving her just now clearly said 'piss-me-off-and-I'll-snap-your-neck', but after tonight, she really didn't care. She had just more or less stood down Klaus; there was no way in hell she was going to let herself be intimidated by this arrogant ass anymore. And so, keeping that sweet innocent look in place, the one that had fooled her closest friend Elena for years (not that she was an overly bright individual), she replied, "Oh you mean just now. Yeah, I called you a prick."

Damon just looked at her, eyes flashing in anger. "Now you listen to me you little-"

But before he could get on a roll, Bonnie cut him off. "Don't take this out on me Salvatore," she snapped. "The way I figure it, if the shoe fits wear it and shut up about it."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean," he practically yelled.

Bonnie closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. As much fun as it was to _finally_ be able to get under his skin, it wouldn't do either of them any good to loose their tempers. Especially if this escalated into a yelling match, because that would bring the others, and then nothing would ever get resolved.

Once she was sure of her temper, she spoke. " From the moment you arrived in Fells Church you have done nothing but lust after my best friend. The only interest you've ever shown in me was as a light snack. What right have you to ask me to give up my home, and my life for you when I can't even be sure you'll keep your teeth out of my neck. 

"I have spent most of my life being treated like a child, like I was stupid and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. I let people get by with it because it made it easier for me, I don't like confrontations. I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong to do so. But it's over now, I've ran the gauntlet and I'm still here. I am not going to end this by going off to be your new sex toy. If you want some innocent little thing to treat like shit, don't come to me cause I am way out of your league. God, I don't even know why I came after you." 

Damon said nothing as she chewed him out; he just looked at her, face completely expressionless. The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours until finally, unable to stand his piercing gaze any longer, Bonnie turned away from him and began to make her way home. It was gonna be a long walk, but it was either walk or go back to the clearing and wait for the others to stop prancing around, and god only knew how long that could take. They'd looked like they were on a caffeine high when she left. 

She had only gone a few feet when Damon called out to her. ~Bonnie~, his voice whispered softly in her mind. Gathering the little Power she had left she focused her mind on Damon's. ~What do you want now? ~ she responded, not bothering to hide her annoyance at having him trespass on her thoughts so callously.

She heard him sigh and knew he was directly behind her. "Well," she said a bit impatiently.

"I wasn't asking you to come with me just for my own amusement. I thought you wanted to.  I had assumed from your behavior towards me, that you had feelings for me."

"Oh I see. So what, you thought it would be fun to break me is that it."

"No!! Damnit Bonnie I would never pull something like that. Not with you. How could you even think that?"

Bonnie could hear the hurt in his voice and at that she turned around. He was standing there looking at her almost desperately. It was something she'd never seen coming from him. "After the way you've treated me, how could I not think that," she replied softly.

Damon looked away at her words. "Bonnie I know I haven't treated you kindly, but I also know that it wasn't quite that bad."

"You tried to seduce my blood from me. After all we'd already been through." For the first time he could see how much he'd really hurt her. He decided that in this case it would be best if he came clean.

"That night, outside of Vicki's, I wasn't trying to seduce your blood from you," Damon began a bit hesitantly. "To be perfectly honest I did want your blood but-"

"Bonnie?!?"

"Bonnie where are you?!"

"Ah shit", Damon and Bonnie both said simultaneously. 

Looks like the caffeine high finally wore off, thought Bonnie turning towards all the noise. Turning back to Damon, anything she had planned on saying never made it past her lips. 

Damon was gone. 


	2. Didn't You Know? I Love You

A/N: 1st I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. Don't worry about being too critical; I really need your honest opinions on this. I haven't read VD in a while so any pointers you give me on making the characters more believable will be really helpful. This is the last time I'll be updating for a while. Aside from writers block, life's been pretty hectic and I've got finals in a few weeks.

Vampire Diaries V: The Morrigan

Chapter 1

Didn't You Know? I Love You

"Bonnie! There you are."

Bonnie sighed in barely restrained frustration. She knew it wasn't their fault that Matt and the others had picked that exact moment to come looking for her, but she really did want to know why Damon had tried to seduce her if it wasn't for her blood. She started when someone began waving their hand in her face. Pushing it away in annoyance she glared at its owner. "Matt! What are you doing?"

"Temper temper Bon Bon. I was just trying to get your attention. We've been calling you for 5 minutes and you have yet to answer." Matt took her by the shoulders, looking at her with concern. "You alright Bonnie? You seem a bit dazed."

Shrugging out of his grasp and taking a few steps back to reclaim some much-needed personal space, she replied, "I'm fine Matt. I just wanted a little alone time. Things have been pretty intense."

"Even so, you shouldn't be wandering off like that, it's not safe." Putting his arm around her shoulder he led her off in the direction of the others, calling out, "Hey guys! I found her!"

~~~~~***~~~~~

2 hours after meeting back up with the others Bonnie finally managed to get that nice long bath. She was lying in bed now, snuggled down under the covers, enjoying the relative peace and quiet.

"Ye gods what a day," she sighed. Stretching herself out in a massive yawn, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was an envelope on her pillow. Reaching over and picking it up, she saw that it was completely blank. It didn't even have a name on it to show who it was addressed to. Opening it she found a letter in beautiful old-fashioned script:

Bonnie,

I'm going to keep this short; no point in dragging out what is obviously an undesirable acquaintance for you. I won't go into the details of that night; there really isn't any reason to. I want you to know that I am truly sorry that I hurt you, that was never my intention. I am leaving Fells Church, to where, I don't know. But you won't have to worry about my interfering in your life in any way; I'm keeping my distance. However, if you ever need anything, if you're in any kind of trouble or you just need money or a place to stay, you know how to find me. It's the very least I can offer after all you've done for me... and my dumbass of a little brother. You're an incredible woman Bonnie I hope you realize that. *Fare non lasciare bastardo ottenere tu discendente.

Damon

"Huh." It was all she could say really. A note. A note and then nothing. He just left. It was just as well really. For all her protests, she really did want to go with him. She certainly wouldn't be bored if she did, that was for sure. But whether she wanted to or not, she wasn't ready to. There was so much she still had to figure out and she had to do it herself. Which meant she couldn't depend so completely on anyone, not even Damon. 

Thinking about her need for independence brought Bonnie's thoughts to a very unpleasant subject. Explaining to her parents and friends that, not only was she not going to college, but she was also leaving Virginia to go on a road trip. One that could conceivably last several years. 

These last few months had made her realize how many things about the world she needed to know, out of a general curiosity and for her own protection as well. One thing was certain, she was no longer a dabbler, she was now a practicing witch. Her parents had always told her to stop screwing around and make some serious decisions about her life, and she had done just that. There was obviously a lot more to Wicca than reading palms and with the Power she had, it was time to either train and study and harness that Power, or just stay the hell away from it all together. Being a flake about it would only get her into trouble. Or worse, killed. 

Whatever she planned to do with her life, she wouldn't be able to accomplish it here in Fells Church. Unfortunately she had no idea where to start. Reaching over to turn out the light, Bonnie decided that stressing out over it now, when there was nothing she could really do about it either way, was pointless. Taking a few deep breaths to try to relax, she snuggled down under the covers to try to get some sleep.

~~~~~***~~~~~

*Italian: Fare non lasciare bastardo ottenere tu discendente.

  Translation: Don't let the bastards get you down.

~~~~~***~~~~~

As Damon drove out of Fells Church, he thought about her. As he boarded his flight, he thought about her. Pacing the balcony of his villa in Italy, he thought about her. He was drowning in her soulful brown eyes, lost in the taste of her sweet mouth.... and crushed by her scorn for him. He couldn't get her out of his mind; if he were quite honest with himself that had always been the case. 

Yes he had lusted after Elena. But he'd never loved her. It was closure he had needed. She had seemed just like Katherine, and Katherine had never made her choice. Never confessed to loving either his brother or himself more than the other. Had never been willing to truly give up everything for the sake of that love. "Killing" herself so that him and Stefan would get along didn't count. It was romanticized bullshit and he'd thought better of her. When he'd met Elena, she was more of a symbolic conquest. He had to know who she loved, who she'd die for. It had never even occurred to him that the same thing would happen. That she'd love them both, die for them both. 

It had never occurred to him that this time it would break his heart. He knew she loved him; she always would, in her own way. After all, if things went well, legally, he'd be her brother. And that was fine by him. The more he knew Elena, the more he realized she was nothing like Katherine. All the two women had in common were looks. And the more he knew Elena, the more he realized that he'd never loved either of them. Katherine had seemed innocent, sweet. He'd needed unconditional love and in those times, he'd only be able to get that from someone innocent to the ways of men. But Katherine was weak. And, lets face it, Katherine was insane. Elena was strong, he thought she could handle what he was and still love him. He was half right; someone strong in their convictions is not gonna flake between two guys. In her defense, Elena was only 17 and people twice her age have done the same. But the point was that was not what Damon wanted or needed. And she was a manipulative bitch. Now he manipulated people all the time. Influencing people telepathically is exactly that. But he was upfront about it. She did it to her own friends without bating an eye. Hopefully these last few months of being hunted and killed helped to put things in perspective for her. They had certainly helped him.

Gazing out into the night, watching the lights of the city wink out one by one, Damon thought about the very first time he had kissed Bonnie. He remembered seeing her at Alaric's party, a fiery haired goddess among mortals. She was sitting with some friends from school he only barely recognized, talking and laughing. Suddenly, she looked up and her gaze locked with his own. It was as if she had him under a spell, and for the longest time, he had thought exactly that. He could feel himself being drawn towards her. A young man sitting next to her had the audacity to call her attention away from him just as he was about to speak, prattling on about some high school football game or the like. But even with her attentions on another, he still felt that strange tugging at his heart, urging him on. So he put on his most charming smile, chatted her up, and came up with an excuse to kiss her. Some insanely ludicrous line about kissing redheads to cure a fever. She let out the most beautiful laugh, her eyes sparkling with amusement. And he kissed her. 

It was the sweetest, most chaste kiss he'd ever given a woman. His lips barely grazed her own, his hand lightly caressing her cheek, brushing against the silky curls of her hair. It set his soul on fire. He still pursued Elena, doing his very best to ignore Bonnie and the hold she seemed to have over him. But as he watched Elena and got to know her, he got to know Bonnie. It became painfully obvious that the feelings he had for her were no spell. She would never do something so petty. He was simply falling in love. And he hated it. With all his infatuations, he had never imagined that falling in love would mean such a total lose of control. The inability to think, eat, sleep, or even breathe properly (not that he needed to) without seeing the object of his affections for just one moment a day.

He had thought when he left the first time that he'd be able to forget about her. And at one point he'd almost managed to convince himself that he had. Then she called to him, summoning him and his brother back to the hellhole that was Fells Church to face a new evil. And of course, without hesitation, he came running back to her. 

When he had asked her to come away with him, it had never occurred to him that she would refuse so vehemently. Though in retrospect, in made perfect sense. Damon prided himself on keeping his cool, never revealing too much as to what he was thinking. Upside, it kept people guessing. Downside, it tends to confuse people when, after showing no regard for them whatsoever, you suddenly ask them to leave their family and friends behind just to be with you. So when Matt's interruption distracted her, he took that moment to leave. He followed her to make sure she got home safely, and left her a brief note while she was taking her bath. It was short and didn't really answer any of the questions she had asked him, but hopefully it left things more or less all right between them. 

It was a bit cowardly, he supposed, to run off the way he did. But continuing that conversation wouldn't have done either of them any good. He still wasn't quite sure how he felt about being in love with her. And over the past few days, he'd been sensing a lot of confusion and stress in Bonnie. Pushing her mind to dream about her problems while she was sleeping one night showed him that what she was feeling had nothing to do with Klaus. She was upset over what everyone expected her to do after she graduated, and confused about what she wanted to do with her life. He had thought that maybe coming away with him would help her get a little peace of mind, but on second thought, what Bonnie really needed was time away from everyone, especially him. So he left her alone. He'd keep tabs on her of course. Whatever else she might turn out to be, she was at the moment his friend, whether she knew it or not.

"Signore Salvatore."

Glancing behind himself, he saw his housekeeper standing in the doorway. "What is it Danielle?"

"I have Signorina Raven on the phone as you requested." Looking down he noticed the cordless in her hand. 

"Thank you Danielle." Taking the phone from her, Damon resumed his place leaning over the edge of the balcony. "Raven?"

"Hey Damon, wassup!"

"Wassup?" he said, quirking an eyebrow. "What're you, 15?"

"Well I sure as hell look it, so I figured, best to try and fit in. Especially considering the circumstances."

"And what circumstances would those be?"

"You don't wanna know."

"You're right, I probably don't."

"So Danielle's still working for you huh? I woulda figured you'd've fired her for someone younger by now."

"Well she's good. That and she didn't have a heart attack when she found out what I was."

"Always a plus. So seriously, what's up? You never call me without a reason."

"I need you to look after someone for me. She did me a big favor recently, and if any of our kind find out about it, it could mean her life."

"What kind of favor?"

"She saved my life, and the life of my brother. She ended up taking down an Original in the process."

"You shittin me!? An Original!?! You sure it was an Original?"

"Positive. She had plenty of help, but most likely it would be pinned on her."

"Who is this chick? A sorceress or something?"

"Just a normal teenage girl. Her name's Bonnie McCullough. She dabbled a bit in witchcraft, but nothing serious. Though I'm sure that'll change after all she's been through."

"Hmm. So how'd you two end up working together? You've never been much for socializing, especially with humans."

"It's a long story. One that you will never hear."

"Awww c'moooon."

"Don't whine. It's immature and unladylike."

"Bite me."

"Tempting but no."

"Pervert."

"Child."

"Psycho."

"Child."

"Grrrrr."

Chuckle. "Round one and already tapped. So are you gonna help me or not?"

"Sure what the hell. But just outta curiosity, can't this chick take care of herself?"

"Probably, if given the chance. But she's just starting out on her own, which is hard enough without newbie vamps trying to make names for themselves by offing her."

"Right. That and you wanna be able to find her whenever you want."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, I hear the way you talk about her. You like her. And I'm betting not just as a friend."

"Look, just keep an eye on her alright. I'm not saying follow her every move or anything like that. Unless it's necessary. Just try to make sure she's safe."

"Aight. I'll keep my ear to the ground so to speak. Make sure no one's heard about what happened.  Where's is she right now?"

"Where I left her; Fells Church, Virginia."

"Wait a minute, you went to Hell's Church?"

"You've heard of the place I see. Hard to believe, it's somewhat out of the way."

"Yeah well, I been around. So what were you doing there anyway?"

"Nice try but I'm still not telling. Let me know if you find any trouble."

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. I better get on that now then. I've got a shitload of loose ends to tie up before I head out. See ya Damon."

"Ciao." Hitting the off button Damon went back into the house. The balcony was adjacent to his bedroom. He had just been in the shower when he'd gotten the phone and was wearing a pair of sweats. He went to his closet and grabbed himself some clothes suitable for a hunt, all in black of course. 

He had been serious when he'd told Raven that Bonnie might be in danger. There was no telling how fast her powers would grow, especially if she trained herself, which he knew she would. So maybe she could handle herself if anything happened. But he didn't want her to have to if at all possible. And having someone keep tabs on her so he could find out a little more about her personally didn't hurt. Either way, the next few years should be interesting.

Alright, I've done my part. Now it's your turn. Click on the button and give me some feedback. Don't make me beg, it's not pretty.

Bunny


	3. I Figured I'd Do It My Way

The Vampire Diaries V: The Morrigan

Chapter 2

I Figured I'd Do It My Way

A/N: Oh my god I can't believe I actually wrote this much. Well anyway, words between these ~a~ are telepathy. Words between these _a_ are personally thoughts. Just thought I'd clear that up. Oh and a Levin Bolt is like a really big psychic blast, just incase you didn't know. And now, on with the story. 

The sun had just risen a few hours ago and there was very little activity throughout the town. Everyone was still shaking off the last vestiges of sleep; taking showers, fixing coffee, having breakfast. Things were peaceful all around, a stark contrast to a few nights ago, when deep in the forest, a war between good and evil had been waged. The good guys won, as they usually do in all the fairytales. But it was not the end of things. Not even close. Happily ever after was still a long ways off, though the heroes of that night were unaware of the fact. They were all trying to get on with their lives and put the darkness behind them. Some of them had decided the best way to do that was to try and pretend that that night and the events leading to it had more or less never happened. Which was why Meredith was calmly having a light breakfast with the rest of her family and Matt was taking his morning run. Stefan and Elena didn't have that option, considering the circumstances. They had been trying to figure out the best way to explain Elena's return and had come to the somewhat painful conclusion that there wasn't an explanation that would completely satisfy the town. So the only option was to leave which hurt Elena deeply because of all the ties she had to Fell's Church, and it hurt Stefan as well. No one wants to see a loved one suffer. 

Bonnie chose not to even bother worrying about it for the time being. The way she figured it, she had a couple of months before everyone absolutely had to know what her plans were. So she figured she'd take that time to come up with something concrete so that her family wouldn't worry that she was just going to go cross-country as a hobo. So far, the only thing she'd managed was perfecting the art of sleeping in. Yesterday she had managed to last till 2 in the afternoon. She rewarded herself by renting a few really bad horror movies and camping out on the couch till 5 am. Which was unfortunate since her alarm was now screeching incessantly at her a mere 4 hours later. Reaching out an unsteady hand from the mountain of covers that was her bed, Bonnie's fingers fumbled along her night stand searching for the snooze button. She pressed it several times to no avail. 

"Sonofa-" she muttered under her breath, slamming her fist into it hoping to possibly break it. A distressed wail came from the bed as the alarm kept screeching away. Sighing in defeat Bonnie threw back the covers and sat up, swinging her legs out of bed. She sat there for a moment simply glaring at her alarm clock before picking it up and chucking it at a wall, a surprisingly feral little growl emanating from her throat.

"Bonnie?" her mother called from the hallway, concern evident in her voice. "Is everything all right dear?"

"Ugh," Bonnie grunted loudly.

"Honey?" Obviously not loud enough.

"I'm fine mom," she replied somewhat hostilely.

"All right. Why don't you get cleaned up and come on down and have breakfast with the rest of us."

"No thanks. I'm not hungry."

There was a light knock on the door and then it was opening. Her mother made her way into the room a bit uncertainly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Bonnie asked, genuinely confused.

Her mother walked over to the bed and sat beside her, smoothing back her hair, which was wild and unruly from sleep. "Bonnie I know something's wrong. You've been sleeping in and staying up late for the past 6 days. You've been avoiding your family and your friends. Talk to me, tell me what's bothering you."

For a second Bonnie almost did. Wrapping her arms around her mother, she held on to her tightly, wishing she never had to let go. It was so much easier when all the important things were decided for her. She was so tempted to tell her mother everything; about Elena being alive, about wanting to travel instead of going to college, and most of all about the confusing state of affairs with Damon. She needed to talk to someone or she'd go insane. But her mother wouldn't be able to help her. Aside from the fact that she'd probably have Bonnie committed, if she believed her story her mother's advice would be to forget about Damon and the strange wanderlust that had come over her and go to college, find a nice husband and settle down. 

"Bonnie?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you tell me what's wrong?"

Sigh. "There's nothing wrong mom, really. I'm just vegging out that's all. Things have been intense lately." Understatement. "After everything happened with... Elena," Bonnie let her voice crack for effect when she said Elena's name, "I never really got the chance to deal, ya know. I mean I'm not wigging out or anything like that, I just need, I dunno, time to breath. It's kinduv hard to explain. But I'll be fine really. I just need my space right now. Ok?"

Bonnie's mother held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Oh honey I'm so sorry I didn't realize. You take all the time you need sweetheart."

"Thanks mom," Bonnie said smiling up at her. Bonnie felt a little bad for using Elena as an excuse. After all, respect for the dead and all that stuff. _Fortunately Elena's not dead_, Bonnie thought. _Anymore at least_.

"Don't worry about it sweetie. I'd better get downstairs and make breakfast. You sure you don't want anything?"

"Positive. I think I'll head into town and grab myself some coffee and a bagel or something."

"Ok. Will you be back for lunch?"

"I don't know."

"Well call me and let me know alright?"

"Ok." Smiling affectionately at her daughter Mrs. McCullough left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Bonnie let out a yawn that practically broke her jaw and headed off to the bathroom for a quick shower. Half an hour later she was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt and getting into her car (A/N: does Bonnie have a car? Oh well, she does now). She drove around town aimlessly for a little while before stopping off at a Starbucks for coffee and a bagel. _Might as well eat something since I'm out here at this ungodly hour_. She drove to the edge of the woods, parked and got out, going over to a nearby tree and sitting under it with her back propped against it. She sat there for a time, just enjoying the sound of the birds singing in the trees and the animals scurrying through the underbrush letting her mind wander. She had heard the snap of twigs as he walked toward her, and felt his presence before that. So she wasn't surprised when Stefan settled himself down beside her. 

"You're out early," he said quietly.

"It's 10 o'clock."

"True, but you're usually not even up till 12."

"What are you spying on me?" she said sharply. Wincing at her tone she muttered an apology. 

Stefan just sat there and regarded her calmly. After a few moments of silence he tried another topic. "How's Damon?"

"Pardon?" Bonnie visibly stiffened at the mention of Stefan's brother.

"I said-"

"I know what you said. Why ask me?"

"Well you were the last one to see him." 

Shock was written all over Bonnie's face as she just looked at Stefan.

"Don't look so surprised. You wander off into the woods mere minutes after Damon leaves. The odds of you not running into him are pretty slim. Why'd you go after him anyway?"

"I didn't 'go after' him," she replied.

Stefan looked at her skeptically.

"I didn't," she insisted. " I don't know why I wandered off, I just..." her voice trailed off as she tried to remember exactly what happened. "I-I saw something in the woods and... I remembered he'd left and then... I just sort of, went after him," she finished slowly. A puzzled frown marred her face. "Why did I do that?"

"Hmm. You were probably influenced." Stefan stated calmly.

"What?!"

"Well if you don't clearly even remember wanting to talk to him-"

"Well I didn't say that exactly."

"But you just said-"

"And why the hell are you so calm?!" Bonnie snapped. 

"Why are you so upset?"

"I asked you first."

"Bonnie." Stefan said mildly amused.

"Well I did."

"Bonnie," he said, his voice taking on a somewhat demanding tone. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened with Damon. And while you're at it I'd like to know why you're practically hiding out in your house and avoiding everyone. Meredith said she's called you several times."

By now Bonnie had gotten up and started pacing and chewing her lip in frustration. "I'd like to know why everyone's being so damn nosy," she muttered under her breath.  

"We like you Bonnie. If you go crazy, we'd be less than thrilled to say the least."

Sigh. "Everything's just been so damn confusing lately. Even before you and Damon came back. My parents are all 'You need to take responsibility for your life and make plans'. Excuse me if I don't have plans. And then Damon comes out of left field with his whole 'Come away with me Bonnie. Be my queen of shadows' bit.  Or whatever the hell he wants to call it. Queen of shadows, sex toy, same dif." Stefan sat back calmly and let Bonnie continue her rant. It took Bonnie a few minutes to run out of steam. When she'd finished, she'd cursed Damon, Elena, Meredith, Matt, her parents, Fell's Church, and the whole of southern America straight to hell. Breathless and still very upset, Bonnie plopped herself down in front of him, crossing her legs and propping her elbows on her knees. 

"Feel any better?"

"No."

Stefan cocked his head to the side and looked at her for a moment. "There is not a single person you know who escaped your wrath just now. What made me the exception?"

"Well you're nice enough. The only major fault you have is you whine to damn much about being a vampire. That and you're a lovesick moron, but that's usually unavoidable so I don't really blame you for that."

"Gee. Thanks."

Bonnie just shrugged and ducked her head to hide her blush. She realized she'd never really been so upfront with anyone before. 

"So, now that you've voiced your complaints, what are you going to do about them?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Actually," Bonnie continued a bit shyly, " I was kinduv hoping you might help with that. See I'm not really ready for college. I'm not even sure I'm ever going. Either way right now I just sort of wanna, I dunno, wander I guess. It's a little hard to explain."

"I understand what you're getting at. I'm pretty much an expert at it since vampires can't settle long in one place. It's going to be hard without money though."

"Well that wont be much of a problem," Bonnie said brightly. "My grandmother left a trust in my name. No one else can touch it so I can do whatever I want with it as soon as I hit 18 which is in a few months."

"Alright that's good. Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Um, well I haven't really decided. There are so many places I'd like to check out. L. A., San Francisco, New Orleans, New York and a few other places. And that's just in this country."

Stefan chuckled at Bonnie's enthusiasm on the subject. She had looked so dejected when he'd come to see her. "Well why don't we start locally first. This would be your first time on your own, am I right?" Bonnie nodded. "You don't want to get in over your head if you can help it and you'll be less likely to do that if you stay in America."

"You're very naive for a 500 yr. old."

Stefan rolled his eyes at her. "I mean at least here most people speak English and you're more or less familiar with the laws smartass." Bonnie stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled. "And you might want to work on not looking so sweet and innocent. I'm not saying you need to be a badass, but you should carry yourself a little differently."

"Like I can protect myself you mean."

"Exactly."

"Ok. You do realize that I'm completely lost right? I know what I want, but I have absolutely no idea how to get it."

"I figured as much and I'm more than happy to help. First thing you need to do is find out how much money your grandmother left you and figure out where you want to live. Then I'll help you get settled. I'll give you whatever advice you need, but I'm going to let you do this on your own."

Bonnie nodded to herself. "Well that is the point of my leaving." She looked at Stefan and smiled warmly. She felt so much better than she had in months. She finally had a plan. Stefan stood up and brushed himself off. He reached a hand out to Bonnie and led her back to her car. 

"We might as well work out some of the details now. We'll start by finding out how much money you have to work with."

"Alright lets go." As they drove off they were unaware that someone had been listening to their entire conversation.

~~~~~***~~~~~

Raven thought about continuing to follow Bonnie but thought better of it. She wasn't in any serious danger at the moment, especially not with Stefan around. _So that was Bonnie_. Hard to believe a tiny little thing like that had Damon so completely whipped. _But then they never thought a tiny thing like me would survive as long as I did so I guess size doesn't really matter_. Rustling her tail feathers to adjust herself, Raven headed into town. She was supposed to meet some friends she'd commissioned to help her look after Bonnie. They had planned to meet at the mall. There were plenty of other quieter places they could've met, but in a small town like this a bunch of leather clad pierced up Goth kids would hardly go unnoticed, so the mall was their best bet. She found them in the food court in front of McDonalds. "Hey chicas sup!" she called out, playing up the teenybopper bit. Herself, she had decided to go with something a bit more of the norm. Adults tended to give the average teen enough shit without said teens looking like they were not so secretly worshiping the devil. So she was dressed in a pair of khaki capris and a pink baby tee from the Gap. _Not my usual style_, she thought with a grimace, _but at least one of us will be able to get by the adults. That's definitely gonna have to change_.  

She took a seat at their table and surveyed the little group of hellions. She had opted for some perfectly normal humans, Goth fad not withstanding, for this particular job. After all she'd apparently been through, Bonnie would most likely be especially sensitive to any unaccounted for supernatural beings running around town. 

"Hey Raven, been a while," Lancer greeted her in his quiet voice. He was a lanky young man of about 23 with shoulder length black hair that was currently slicked back and tied at the base of his neck. Chanterelle just nodded stiffly, obviously uncomfortable with her surroundings. "So what is it that you require of us Goddess of the Night?" 

~Goddess of the Night? ~ She heard Jess, her twin brother, snigger in her mind.

~Shut up asswipe.~ 

"Guys, I thought I told you to tone it down," Raven said addressing Lancer and Chanterelle.

"Tone what down?" Chanterelle asked in a monotone.

"The Goth bit," Raven said, exasperation making its way into her voice. "You're supposed to be inconspicuous.

~Where'd you get these psychos? Wouldn't Deirdre be better for this?~ Jess asked.

~Deirdre's a 700-year-old demon.~

~So.~

~So Bonnie might pick up on that. Those two are just supposed to put a couple of tracers on her. She's never supposed to find out we were here. Now shut the hell up! I can't path and hold a conversation at the same damn time!~

~Sure you can. You're doing it right now.~ to piss her off further Jess started singing "Mambo Italiano". Raven responded with a Levin Bolt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a bird fall to the ground from its perch on a banner. Satisfied that there would be no more interruptions from his end, she turned her attention back to Lancer and his girl. 

While Jess had been pulling the annoying little brother routine, Raven had been telling Lancer and Chanterelle what was needed of them: a tracer on Bonnie's car and one on a necklace Damon had said she always wore. Damon had mentioned that Bonnie was getting restless and would probably moving around a lot. This would make it easier for Raven to keep tabs on her.

"This is a quick job," Raven finished. "You plant the tracers and then you're outta here. And for the love of god put on some normal clothes."

Lancer seemed to consider this for a moment. Then, with a decisive nod, "We'll take out the piercings."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Fine whatever. You can't let her see you either way."

They parted ways, Lancer and Chanterelle to do their job and Raven to pick up her brother before someone could step on him. She went down one of the side corridors that usually lead to the bathrooms and sent him a brief surge of Power to wake him up. He ruffled his feathers and shifted to his human form.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked, brushing his hair back from his face.

He knocked her hand away. "Like someone hit me with a big honkin' Levin Bolt."

"Don't be such a friggen baby. You've had a helluvah lot worse."

"Whatever," he grumbled. " You took care of your business. Can we go eat now?" he practically whined.

"That depends. Did you get the info I needed?"

"Of course. This place is a dead zone sis. No one else was in Fell's Church when everything went down. Hardly anyone even knows the Salvatores spent any time here and no one knows about Klaus."

"Hm. Alright let's go." As the twins made their way out of the mall it became obvious to Jess that his sister was still very preoccupied. 

He nudged her in the arm. "Hey. Watcha thinkin about?"

"I guess I'm still a bit worried. There are other reasons for Bonnie to be a target. She's a budding psychic. If she's got as much potential as Damon says, she'd make a good slave for someone strong enough to break her. And that's not counting all the other nasties that'd be interested. Plus there's her connection to the Salvatores."

"Well that's what we're here for," Jess said consolingly. "We keep a look out and make sure nothing touches her until she can handle it herself. Now c'mon. I'm starving."

"Jess."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for doing this."

"Hey it's no biggie sis."

"It's a big job Jess. We'll probably be at this for a few years."

"I know. Damon helped me too remember. I owe him."

"Even so, thanks."

"No problem." Pause. "Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know chanterelle isn't a name? Its a mushroom."

"Leave her alone. She's trying to find herself."

Snicker. "Ok."

Once out of site, Raven and Jess both shifted into ravens and flew off in search of food.

~~~~~***~~~~~

It had been over a week since Damon had heard anything from Raven and he was starting to get restless. He was considering heading back to America when he received her call. "It's about time," he practically snarled into the phone.

"Patience is a virtue," she drawled.

"One I don't possess," he snapped.

"Aight aight don't get your panties in a twist. I made some inquiries and as far as anyone knows, you and Stefan were the only vamps in Fell's church. No one knows what happened, just that you were there. I had a couple of tracers put on Bonnie and her car so she'd be easier to track. See, everything's under control."

"We'll see about that."

Aight peeps. You know the drill. I should be updating a little more frequently now that school's done for the time being. In the meantime, review. It inspires me.

Bunny


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